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The Tomatometer rating – based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics – is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality for millions of moviegoers. It represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show.

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Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

Rotten

The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

Certified Fresh

Movies and TV shows are Certified Fresh with a steady Tomatometer of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide-release movies, 40 for limited-release movies, 20 for TV shows), including 5 reviews from Top Critics.

Although this opening installment of the trilogy showed promise in the first half, felt contrived and boring in the concluding half. It would have benefited from a second viewing but the other two films in the series never made it to a theater near me so this went pretty much forgotten.

Wow! Can't believe this was a television movie! Very atmospheric and brilliantly acted period British noir. My only quibble is that the narrative was a bit confusing in parts. Feels part of a larger whole...I haven't seen parts 2 & 3 yet.

(Because this is a trilogy, and because I saw all three at once, I'm rating these films as a whole, not individually.)The Red Riding Trilogy consists of three very different, yet similar films. 1974 is the most cinematic of the three, with a more fictitiousness and entertainment feel than the other two. It's also stereotypical at times and some scenes are easy to predict because of this.1980 has a more historical feel, opening with and continuing throughout with actual footage and pictures, making you feel like you're experiencing some of the events caused by the actual murders.1983 feels slightly like both previous films, but has a unique feel all of its own, ending the trilogy in superb ways and explaining unanswered questions and secrets in the previous two films.As a whole, this is beautifully constructed trilogy with films that could have stood alone if it weren't for scenes that directly linked them together.

Such a great film. Decided to rewatch the trilogy as I loved it when it first came out a few years ago to see how it held up. The first installment has really strong performances by Garfield, Beach, and others. The plot is very solid, even if it is difficult to follow entirely due to hints being very slight and certain words being hard to follow with the accents. The movie even stands as a very well done flick on its own, but the entirety of the series is needed to be viewed to fully appreciate it.

I think I was only able to follow the story because I had read the book on which it was based on, and while the book grips you from the first page there's nothing here to grab you by the throat... And while everyone is good in their parts, I found some of the casting decisions to be slightly wrong

It definitely gets off to a very slow start, but Red Riding: 1974 eventually escalates into a nightmarish and intense thriller that has one of Andrew Garfield's best performances of his career. Garfield plays Eddie Dunford, a young and passionate journalist in Yorkshire investigating a set of child murders that seem to be connected. However, his investigation is made more difficult by a corrupt police force that does everything in its power to keep Dunford from discovering the truth behind the murders. The easiest way to describe the movie is that it puts a British spin on David Fincher's Zodiac, except it takes a bit longer to build up to the level of suspense achieved in that film. The first forty minutes play out very slowly, and therefore the movie might not grab your interest immediately, but after this it gets very interesting, and the last half hour is absolutely spectacular in so many ways. In addition to Andrew Garfield, both Sean Bean and Rebecca Hall also give great performances in two of the movie's larger roles. The only problem I had with the movie is that it takes a little too long to get really exciting, but my god does it get good near the end. If you stick with it through the first forty minutes, you'll be surprised by how gripping the plot gets. Don't be fooled by the fact that this aired on BBC rather than in theaters because, once it really gets going, Red Riding: 1974 is a top-notch thriller that is as haunting as it is masterfully made.

P.S. I would highly suggest watching it with subtitles. Some of the actors have thick Northern English accents that leads everything they say to come out as "hshrhghcnwrtytg". This only applies to certain actors of course, but without subtitles you're likely to miss a number of key plot points.

Movies about police corruption are nothing new--but the approach taken by "Red Riding" is less compromising than most. This isn't a tale of some intrepid crusader. In the end, the good guys might win the war (although that is by no means certain), but they lose some ugly battles along the way. Set against a backdrop of serial murders during 1974-1983, including the Yorkshire Ripper killings, the books and films follow several recurring fictional characters through a bleak and violent world of multi-layered police corruption and organized crime. "Red Riding: 1974" sets up a fantastic trilogy- but can viewed, as it stands on it's own. Much of what becomes background material for the second and third films works effectively as the main story for this movie. "The "Red Riding Trilogy" is gritty and brutal--an immersive viewing experience. Over the course of 302 minutes, we are sucked into a virtual world of corrupt police and establishment figures of West Yorkshire in England.

A serial killer is at work--and children are being kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. The police, led by the low-key Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey), and the pugnacious Billy Molloy (Warren Clarke), are hard at work on the case, but don't seem to be making much progress. In 1974, The Yorkshire Post assign Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield), a young reporter, who tries to find information on a series of missing girls. Meanwhile, John Dawson (Sean Bean), a local businessman and developer, bribes members of the West Yorkshire Constabulary (WYC) and local councillors into letting him purchase local land and gain permission for a shopping centre he has planned. This is done by burning down a Roma camp previously existing in the area. One of the murdered girls is found on Dawson's land, having been tortured and strangled--with swan wings stitched into her back. Young, cocky and naive, Dunford pushes his investigation into dangerous areas after being forewarned to stay away. "Red Riding: 1974" is the weakest of the three Red Riding films--but it is effective at setting the stage--introducing some of the characters, and capturing the attention of those who love gritty, uncompromising dramas about police corruption and the dark side of human nature. It is still by all means a competent made film.

"The Red Riding Trilogy" is a bit of a challenge, and is not easily summarized--and it demands constant viewer attention. For American audiences, there is an additional problem--the accents are so thick that it can be difficult to decipher dialogue, and entire passages may be missed. There are versions of the trilogy with subtitles that help tremendously. "RR 1974" is the most difficult to understand, with the second third installment--the accents aren't nearly as thick, and easier to understand. Only in the third and final chapter of the trilogy, "Red Riding: 1983"-- all the pieces of the dark puzzle finally find its place--revealing the terrifying truth behind the disappearance and death of the girls.

Set against a backdrop of serial murders during 1974-1983, including the Yorkshire Ripper killings, the books and films follow several recurring fictional characters through a bleak and violent world of multi-layered police corruption and organized crime. "Red Riding: 1974" sets up a fantastic trilogy- but can viewed, as it stands on it's own. Much of what becomes background material for the second and third films works effectively as the main story for this movie. "The "Red Riding Trilogy" is gritty and brutal--an immersive viewing experience. Over the course of 302 minutes, we are sucked into a virtual world of corrupt police and establishment figures of West Yorkshire in England.

In 1974, Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield), a young reporter from the Yorkshire Post, tries to find information on a series of missing girls. Meanwhile, John Dawson (Sean Bean), a local businessman and developer, bribes members of the West Yorkshire Constabulary (WYC) and local councillors into letting him purchase local land and gain permission for a shopping centre he has planned. This is done by burning down a Roma camp previously existing in the area. One of the murdered girls is found on Dawson's land, having been tortured, raped, and strangled, with swan wings stitched into her back. Young, cocky and naive, Dunford pushes his investigation into dangerous areas after being forewarned to stay away.

"Red Riding: 1974" is a bit of a challenge, and is not easily summarized--and it demands constant viewer attention. A two-minute trip to the kitchen could end up costing you dearly. For American audiences, there is an additional problem--the accents are so thick that it can be difficult to decipher dialogue and entire passages may be missed. There are versions of the trilogy with subtitles that help tremendously. Only in the third and final chapter of the trilogy, "Red Riding: 1983"-- all the pieces of the dark puzzle finally find its place--revealing the terrifying truth behind the disappearance of the girls.

The first of three films based on David Peace's novel starring a young reporter Eddie played by Andrew Garfield doing an investigation for the Yorkshire Newpaper about a stream of missing children only to leading him to corruption.

The first of three films which happends to be the best one since it offers a small glimmer of hope as oppsed to the other two.